No sympathy for daughter of illegals
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Charles Gallion
Published: June 30, 2008
So, Jamilla Penarete is upset that the “free ride” courtesy of the Virginia taxpayers has come to an end (“Blocked from the American Dream,” Potomac News, June 27). It appears that she has had some
12 years of free public education and yet is unable to prove that she or her parents maintain a domicile in the commonwealth of Virginia to qualify for in-state college tuition. She gets no sympathy from
me and probably none from many other citizens of the commonwealth.
Virginia Law is very clear that “Failure to file a tax return in Virginia is evidence that one is not a Virginia domicile. Domiciliaries, who have taxable income, are required to file returns regardless of the fact
that they may reside elsewhere.” Producing a couple Virginia tax returns would have made her eligible for in-state tuition rates. Driver’s licenses, voter cards, etc… only indicate intent to establish a
domicile. The real deal is that Virginia tax return. A federal return would be nice too.
I applaud Jamilla’s desire for education and her performance so far. However, it appears that in her classes she has missed the point that U..S Citizenship has both benefits AND responsibilities. She
states in her letter that both she and her parents pay taxes, but apparently is unable to prove it. Paying sales taxes and federal excise taxes alone doesn’t cut it.
It would appear that Jamilla’s mother wants the American Dream without all those pesky little responsibilities that come with it. After 19 years or more, it seems that her parents have made little or no
effort to become legal in this country. Now why is that?
I am not sure how Jamilla’s letter qualifies to get its own column. The Potomac News should do a little research and some real editing before printing these bleeding heart letters of unfair treatment when
the decision is not unfair at all. It’s time for Jamilla and her folks to pay up like the rest of us common folks.
CHARLES GALLION
Woodbridge
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Reader Reactions
Posted by ( RonCharest ) on July 05, 2008 at 7:02 am
Personally, I think it would be a great idea for ALL people in America to earn their citizenship, instead of having it granted automatically at birth.
Having helped my first wife earn her citizenship, and now in the process of helping my present wife, I can say there are fewer than 1 in 10 white Angelo-Saxon native-born people in this country right now who could pass the citizenship test given to Immigrants.
I also think citizenship (which includes the ability to vote) should first be earned through national service, which would qualify a person for a written exam. The national service includes either military or peaceful service such as the America Corps and Peace Corps.
If we did this, folks like Cobra, Mr. Gallion, and Cris Cummings would be irrelevant - they’d never be able to earn their citizenship. However, I would suspect bright and courageous young people such as Ms Penarete would have no difficulty.
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Posted by ( raywilliams ) on July 03, 2008 at 5:21 am
Uh cobra, isn’t this about a Latino girl WANTING to get educated? Should we not promote education or should we make sure they remain construction, house cleaning and fast food workers?
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Posted by ( cobra ) on July 02, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Newscat,
What rock did you climb out from under? We have all seen the BS that you regurgitated here on this site. We really don’t care about the immigration situation in the 1920’s or 1940’s. It has no relevancy to today’s issue with illegal immigration. We have a certain race of people coming here from the Southern Hemisphere illegally. The US has bailed out Mexico on many occasions as they continue to have no real economic plan other then to help their poorest citizens to immigrate to the US both legally and illegally. They continue to meddle in the affairs of the US concerning immigration which is none of their business. They have the right to enforce their immigration laws the same as we do. They have their own military stationed on their southern border but when the US talks about doing the same, the get all worked up about it. The hell with Mexico. Time for them to stand on their own two feet in the year 2008. No more excuses about NAFTA or any other US economic policy that they claim drives people out of Mexico to find work. Enough is enough.
And let me also remind you about the way Americans are treated in Mexico. How about the way they treated the American Soccer team and their fans when playing in Mexico City. The crowd chanted OSAMA during our National Anthem and they also threw bags of urine on the American fans in attendance. None of the main stream press covered that other then Fox news. Also let’s not forget how they treated the American representative when the MS Universe contest was held in Mexico. They booed this young lady unmercifully every time she tried to speak or was presented to the crowd. The two MC’s including a Hispanic American Actor stood by and said absolutely nothing to the crowd. My point is that for all we have done for that country; they continue to spit in our face.
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Posted by ( NewsCat ) on July 02, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Some of you aren’t aware that birthright citizenship has been basically part of the US since the founding. It’s not an “accident” of birth if someone is born in the U.S. Some of you should also know that Canadians (yes EVIL CANADIANS) also have been sneaking across the border and giving birth to little Americans.
Go read <a >Rinku Sen’s op-ed</a> on the history of North American Immigration and the difference in the 1920s between the Canadians and the Mexicans treatment.
“The Immigration Acts of 1920 and 1924, the most restrictive immigration policies we’ve ever had, limited new entrants to 150,000 per year, which was less than a quarter of the total immigration rate at that time. These laws crafted large quotas for northern Europeans while setting limits for countries like Russia and Italy. Thousands of southern and eastern Europeans, however, continued to come.
As immigrants were deported for violating the quota policies, social reformers began to fight for long-time residents who had built families and communities in the U.S. These reformers won a series of changes that gave immigration officials the ability to change someone’s status.
The liberalization remade the American identity, but kept it white. Mexicans, for example, were left behind by the process. According to historian Mae M. Ngai, They weren’t explicitly excluded, but they had little access to the mechanisms through which to change their status, and no one cared to correct that oversight. In 1929, Congress also passed the Registry Act, allowing people to change their status if they paid $20, hadn’t left the U.S. since 1921, and were of good moral character. Of the 115,000 people who were forgiven between 1930 and 1940, 80 percent were European or Canadian. The attorney general began to suspend deportation orders after 1940, and an internal Justice department study in 1943 revealed that the overwhelming majority of suspensions went, ironically, to Germans and Italians; only 8 percent involved Mexicans. Instead of liberalization, Mexicans got a guest worker program, and in 1954, Operation Wetback, the country’s first mass deportation program.“
Or just admit you don’t like people whose parents speak Spanish because OMG they might CHANGE THE COUNTRY YOU LOVE. The lily-white county. (Oh wait, did I say *county* not country. My bad).
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Posted by ( cobra ) on July 02, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Ms. Penarete and the hundreds of thousands of children born in the US to illegal alien parents have and will grow up in households that will teach them that Mexico is their real home country with the US just being a source of income. I will remind you of the conversation I had about a year ago with my Mexican neighbor who has 4 American born children (she always makes sure I am aware of that). I asked her why she did not fly the American Flag in front of her house. She replied that this flag was not the flag of her country. I explained to her that it was indeed the flag of her children’s country and how will you explain that to them. Of course she was absolutely dead silent. The sooner we all realize that they are here to work and nothing else the better off we will be with understanding the immigration issue. Studies have shown that out of those that were given amnesty in 1986, a very small percentage of them went on to become American Citizens. That is fine with me but please don’t insult our intelligence with articles claiming you love this Country. To love this Country is to mean you will respect the laws of the land which are intended for everyone, not just those that pick and choose which laws apply to them. I favor guest workers if needed but please don’t bring them here from the Southern Hemisphere. I am sorry if that offends the open borders crowd but we can only absorb so many uneducated/unskilled people in the US. Unlike other immigrants, Latinos/Hispanics will not assimilate into our culture. Sorry those are the facts.
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Posted by ( BHappy ) on July 02, 2008 at 11:37 am
Agree with other posters, that this is WHY the “birthright citizenship” issue needs to be addressed and clarified….the children of those in the country illegally should NOT be considered US citizens or entitled to the rights and privileges thereof.
Futhermore, this is the second family that has audaciously “outed” themselves as being here illegally while demanding benefits. The other student was going to attend UVA and also got a waiver for in-state tuition. Since we know these families are illegal aliens, WHY ARE THEY STILL HERE?????
That is why the system is broken….
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Posted by ( NewsCat ) on July 02, 2008 at 10:06 am
I would like Mr. Gallion to know that in fact Ms. Penerate files income tax returns. She is not an “illegal” or a citizen of Mexico. She is an AMERICAN citizen and as much a legal resident of Virginia as you or I. The only thing she was denied was automatic instate tution rates from George Mason, rights she would have once she turned age 24 because at that point the state uncouples your income from your parents. (FYI, I know many students who have problems getting aid because of so-called parents high-income when in FACT a deadbeat father or an uncaring parent will not help pay for college. Doesn’t matter what the actual student’s ability to pay for college is, as long as you have two living parents the state MAKES you couple your income on the FISA form to theirs until you are age 24.)
But the reality is that I doubt Mr. Gallion cares about the injustice done to Ms. Penerate. His comments about her benefiting from a “free public education” (like his OWN kids perhaps?) bespeaks that he feels that some people—maybe those who despite being born in this country aren’t “real” Americans—don’t deserved citizenship.
Regardless of what he thinks of her parents and their actions, nothing is going to change the fact that Ms. Penerate is as much a citizen as Mr. Gallion, although in many cases she is treated as less than one by people like himself.
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Posted by ( MikeG ) on July 02, 2008 at 6:57 am
An EXCELLENT letter, Mr. Gallion! There’s no arguing that Ms. Penarete is a legal citizen of this country, by birth. But I have to agree that an “accident” of birth, and her resultant citizenship, is not likely to garner a whole lot of sympathy or support. Her parents have thumbed their noses at the laws of this nation for 20 years or more. What rights does she believe her parents have earned as a result of this complete and total disdain?
Ms. Penarete is a U.S. citizen by law, but that doesn’t automatically qualify her as an American. If she was truly embracing this country in all its aspects, then she would not be so critical of the situation that her own parents created for her by not becoming citizens or legal aliens. Mr. Gallion correctly pointed out the path that she and her parents should have taken, but neither she nor her parents ever chose to do so. Why is that? I think it’s because, in spite of Ms. Panerete’s citizenship status, her allegiances don’t reside here, in the U.S., but with the country from whence her parents came. She has every right to expect the benefits of American citizenship, but NOT without accepting the responsibilities and obligations that go along with that citizenship.
To me, being an American citizen is a lot like being married. You spend your lifetime with this person who you love unconditionally, for better or worse, in sickness and in health, until death do you part. Period. My allegiance to this country, its laws, and its people know no bounds. I will defend this country, and our society and our culture and our way of life to my dying day.
Sure, America has its warts, and our nation has done some things that didn’t reflect our finest hour. But you have to look at things in the broadest context, and if you do you realize that in spite of our problems and differences that often bubble to the surface, this is still the most powerful, influential, generous, and free nation on the face of the earth. We all have opportunities here to be whatever we want to be, worship however we wish, and speak whatever pops into our heads. But we’ve all signed up to the continuing requirements of citizenship, which includes living in accordance with laws, respecting the rights of others, meeting our legal, financial and national obligations, and so forth.
So, Ms. Penarete, are you ready to be an American? Ready to not only demand your rights as a citizen but also to live up to the responsibilities and obligations that go along with achieving the “Amertican Dream”? Part of that responsibility means that you have to demonstrate loyalty and feasance to this nation, show it proper respect, and demand proper respect from others as well. That means being frank with your parents, and others in your community who may share your parent’s status as illegal aliens, and encouraging them to do what is right and what is required to become legal. If you’re not willing to do that, you diminish yourself in the eyes of many of your fellow citizens, and show that your allegiances lie elsewhere.
We all accept that this country is not perfect, but it’s about as close to perfect in this world as you’re likely to get. Why else would millions, probably billions of people from around the world want to come to this country to live the “American Dream?“ You want my sympathy and respect, Ms. Penarete, quit whining and do what the majority of Americans who has succeeded in this country has done and do every day: work hard, do your job, meet your obligations, and live as a good citizen, not just “a” citizen.
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Posted by ( Rafterman ) on July 01, 2008 at 9:44 pm
A very good letter Mr. Gallion, I agree with you wholeheartedly. This young lady gets absolutely no sympathy from me.
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Posted by ( Sammy B ) on July 01, 2008 at 4:17 pm
Ms. Penarete did not jump the line. She was born in Fairfax and therefore by law is a legal citizen of the United States. Legal is legal. Were she a minor dependent and receiving tuition money from parents who are not citizens or legal residents then there might be justification for a denial of the in-state discount if residency regulations specify so. However, Ms. Penarete is a legal adult and paying her own way. It therefore should not matter if her parents are from the moon; her status is what counts. Luckily, according to the editor’s note at the end of her column, GMU has allowed her to pay in-state tuition since the writing of her column. I wish her the best of luck.
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